Upstate can learn from simple lifestyle of Amish

Many Upstate New York rural communities have faced a variety of challenges in recent decades. While farming is still one the largest New York state industries, increasing operational costs as well as the fact that many farmers are nearing retirement age with few young people ready or willing to replace them is leading to the closure of many New York farms. Rural farm communities all across New York state are losing people and cultivated farmland. While some government programs, such as agricultural districts, have helped slow farmland abandonment, the trend continues.

Just when many Central New York people have given up or retired from farm living and working, a migration of hard-working, faith-filled people are filling the void and moving their families into rural New York towns. These folks are revitalizing rundown farms. They are building new barns. They are plowing fields again and raising farm animals. They are also building new schools for their children even as they pay property and public school taxes.

But these new migrants look different from the rest of us. They look like their European ancestors did hundreds of years ago. They speak German and English. They live in mostly simple ways guided by their faith in God and their belief in hard work, responsibility and a strong community. While they use horse and buggies and don’t use electricity at home, they use some modern tools to farm. Central New Yorkers should give a warm welcome to our new Amish neighbors and to do all we can to make them feel at home even as we learn to appreciate, respect and be inspired by their faith-inspired simple lifestyle.